Arusha — TRADE volume between Tanzania and India stands at 4.5billion US dollars (about10.4tri/-) by early March this year as the two countries agreed to use their own currencies while doing trade.

This was said by the Indian High Commissioner to Tanzania Binaya Pradhan, who noted the two trading partners would be using own currencies in trading.

"Tanzania and India will use their own currencies in transactions, which is part of a bilateral trade settlement arrangement," revealed the envoy, at a business symposium held here on Saturday evening.

The diplomat urged financial institutions in the country to capitalise on the new framework to facilitate payments in local currencies, saying Bank of Baroda, both in India and Tanzania, had already started implementing the agreement.

According to Mr Pradhan, the trade volume between the two countries stands at 10.4tri/-(4.5 billion US dollars) by early March this year.

"The move will boost bilateral trade between Tanzania and India as we envision potential growth of our trade," he explained.

Apart from being among Tanzania's largest trading partners, India is also among the top five investment sources in Tanzania.

According to the Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC), Indian investments in Tanzania reached $3.68billion.

India's major exports to Tanzania include petroleum products, pharmaceuticals and chemicals, motor vehicles, electrical goods, articles of iron and steel, sugar, machinery, while Tanzania reciprocates by exporting gold, cashew nuts, pulses, timber, cloves, ores and metal scrap, gemstones.

In the same vein, the Indian High Commissioner rallied the Arusha business community to make the most of investment opportunities in India.

The envoy assured Arusha businessmen that the South Asian country was bent in bolstering economic and trade ties with Tanzania.

On his part, Tanzania India Business Forum Tanzania (TIBF) Secretary Suresh Kumar said the organization served as an important platform to boost the trade between the two countries.